2. Learning Objectives
• Understanding the types of research
design.
• Describe the types of research
design.
– Exploratory research
– Descriptive research
– Causal research
Discuss the nature of research proposal.
Prepare research proposal.
3. The Marketing Research Process
Step 1: Defining the Problem
Step 2: Developing an Approach to the Problem
Step 3: Formulating a Research Design
Step 4: Doing Field Work or Collecting Data
Step 5: Preparing and Analyzing Data
Step 6: Preparing and Presenting the Report
4. Research Design
• A master plan that specifies the
methods and procedures for
collecting and analyzing needed
information.
5. Research Design: Definition
• A research design is a framework or
blueprint for conducting the marketing
research project. It details the procedures
necessary for obtaining the information
needed to structure or solve marketing
research problems.
6. Tasks Involved In a Research Design
Define the Information Needed
Design the Exploratory, Descriptive,
and/or Causal Phases of the Research
Today’s
Specify the Measurement and Scaling Topic
Procedures
Construct a Questionnaire
Specify the Sampling Process and the
Sample Size
Develop a Plan of Data Analysis
7. A Classification of Market Research Designs
Research
Design
Exploratory Conclusive
Research Research
Secondary Experience Pilot Case
Data Surveys Studies Studies
See next slide
8. A Classification of Market Research Designs
Research
Design
Exploratory Conclusive
Research Research
Cross-sectional
Study
Descriptive Causal
Longitudinal Design Design
Study
Experiment
Secondary Survey Observation
Data Study
9. Classification of Marketing Research Designs
Research Design
Exploratory Conclusive
Research Design Research Design
Descriptive Causal
Research Research
Cross-Sectional Longitudinal
Design Design
Single Cross- Multiple Cross-
Sectional Design Sectional Design
10. Types of Research Designs
Exploratory research to gain ideas and insights
Newspaper facing decreasing sales to generate possible
explanation.
Descriptive research to obtain summary measures to
address research questions (research objectives are clearly
defined).
Trends in lifestyle with respect to age, sex, etc.
Causal research for cause-and-effect connection
between managerial decisions and market outcome.
– How people react to a newspaper’s topic selection and
space allocation.
11. Exploratory Research
• Usually conducted during the initial stage of the
research process
• Purposes
– To narrow the scope of the research topic, and
– To transform ambiguous problems into well-defined
ones
12. Exploratory Research Techniques
• Secondary Data Analysis
– Secondary data are data previously collected & assembled for
some project other than the one at hand
• Pilot Studies
– A collective term for any small-scale exploratory research
technique that uses sampling but does not apply rigorous
standards
– Includes
• Focus Group Interviews
– Unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small group of people
• Projective Techniques
– Indirect means of questioning that enables a respondent to project beliefs
and feelings onto a third party or an inanimate object
– Word association tests, sentence completion tests, role playing
13. Exploratory Research Techniques
• Case Studies
– Intensively investigate one or a few situations similar
to the problem situation
• Experience Surveys
– Individuals who are knowledge about a particular
research problem are questioned
14. Conclusive Research
• Provide specific information that aids the decision maker in
evaluating alternative courses of action
• Sound statistical methods & formal research methodologies are
used to increase the reliability of the information
• Data sought tends to be specific & decisive
• Also more structured & formal than exploratory data
15. Types of Conclusive Research
• Descriptive Research
– Describes attitudes, perceptions, characteristics, activities and
situations.
– Examines who, what, when, where, why, & how questions
• Causal Research
– Provides evidence that a cause-and-effect relationship exists
or does not exist.
– Premise is that something (and independent variable) directly
influences the behavior of something else (the dependent
variable).
16. Common Characteristics of
Descriptive Studies
• Build on previous information
• Show relationships between variables
• Representative samples required
• Structured research plans
• Require substantial resources
• Conclusive findings
18. Cross Sectional vs. Longitudinal Designs
Cross Sample
Sectional Surveyed
Design at T1
Same
Sample Sample
Longitudinal also
Surveyed
Design Surveyed
at T1
at T2
Time T1 T2
19. Cross-Sectional vs. Longitudinal Designs
Cross-Sectional Longitudinal
Detecting change Worse Better
Amount of data collected Worse Better
Accuracy Worse Better
Representativeness Better Worse
Response bias Better Worse
20. Some Alternative Research Designs
Exploratory
Research
(a) •Secondary Data Conclusive Research
Analysis •Descriptive/Causal
•Focus Groups
(b) Conclusive Research
•Descriptive/Causal
Exploratory
(c) Conclusive Research Research
•Descriptive/Causal •Secondary Data
Analysis
•Focus Groups
21. Common Characteristics of
Causal Studies
• Logical Time Sequence
– For causality to exist, the cause must either precede
or occur simultaneously with the effect
• Concomitant Variation
– Extent to which the cause and effect vary together as
hypothesized
• Control for Other Possible Causal Factors
22. How Descriptive & Causal Designs
Differ
• Relationship between the variables
– Descriptive designs determine degree of association
– Causal designs infer whether one or more variables influence
another variable
• Degree of environmental control
– Descriptive designs enjoy lesser degrees of control
• Order of the variables
– In descriptive designs, variables are not logically ordered
23. Comparison of Research Designs
Exploratory Descriptive Causal
Purpose ID problems, gain Describe things Determine cause-
insights and-effect
relationships
Assumed Minimal Considerable Considerable
background
knowledge
Degree of Very little High High
structure
Flexibility High Some Little
Sample Non-representative Representative Representative
Research Relaxed Formal Highly controlled
environment
Cost Low Medium High
Findings Preliminary Conclusive Conclusive
24. Which is the “Best” Research Design
& Method?
• “You cannot put the same shoe on every foot.”
– Publilius Syrus
• It depends on the
– problem of interest,
– level of information needed,
– resources,
– researcher’s experience, etc.
25. What is Descriptive Research?
• Can involve collecting quantitative
information
• Can describe categories of qualitative
information such as patterns of interaction
when using technology in the classroom.
• Does not fit neatly into either category
26. What is
Descriptive Research?
• Involves gathering data that describe events
and then organizes, tabulates, depicts, and
describes the data.
• Uses description as a tool to organize data
into patterns that emerge during analysis.
• Often uses visual aids such as graphs and
charts to aid the reader
27. Descriptive Research
takes a “what is” approach
• What is the best way to provide access to
computer equipment in schools?
• Do teachers hold favorable attitudes toward
using computers in schools?
• What have been the reactions of school
administrators to technological innovations in
teaching?
28. Descriptive Research
• Refers to the nature of the research question
• The design of the research
• The way that data will be analyzed for the
topic that will be researched
The type of research question will determine
whether descriptive research approach is
appropriate to use.
29. Descriptive Research
Advantages
• Educational research • Data collection may be
and experiences may spread over a large
contain many number of people over
variables that cannot a large geographic
be realistically
controlled. area
• Educational research
may require
observations of life
experiences
31. Descriptive Research
1. Surveys
• May be used to reveal • May be used to
summary statistics by explore relationships
showing responses to between 2 or more
all possible variables.
questionnaire items.
• Often provide leads in
identifying needed
changes
32. Descriptive Research
Critical Components
Sound Well-designed
methodology data collection
instruments
33. Descriptive Research
Survey Forms
• Written questionnaires Factors to be considered
• Sampling
• Type of population
• Personal interviews
• Question Form
• Telephone interviews • Question Content
• Response rates
• Costs
• Available facilities
• Length of data collection
• Computer assisted
techniques for data
collection
34. Descriptive Research
2. Survey Form - Interviews
• More time efficient
• Allow the researcher to establish a rapport
with the respondent
• Allow the acquisition of more in-depth
information
• Allow for interviewer observation
• Allow the interviewer to obtain visual cues
• May be personal or telephone interviews
35. Descriptive Research
Survey Form – Personal
Interviews
Disadvantages
• Require more staff time
• Require more travel time
36. Descriptive Research
Survey Form – Telephone
Interview
Advantages Disadvantages
Less expensive Limited telephone
Less time-consuming access
Lack of interviewer’s
ability to observe the
respondent and obtain
visual cues
37. Descriptive Research
Survey Form – Mailed
Questionnaires
Advantages Disadvantages
Ability to reach large Lower response rate
number of people across a
wide geographic area Need to design a
Ease and low cost of survey instrument with
distribution a simple format
Minimal amount of staff
required
Allows respondents to
respond in their time
frame
38. Descriptive Research
Survey Form – Mailed
Questionnaires
• A letter of transmittal should accompany mailed
questionnaires.
• Should state purpose and importance of research
• Should state importance of responding
• Should give a time frame to respond
• Should include a confidentiality statement
• Should include an offer to share results
• Should include a thank-you note to the respondent
39. Descriptive Research
Characteristics of a Good
Survey
• Good questioning techniques
• Use complete sentences
• Offer a limited set of answers
• Interesting
• Worded so that questions mean the same to all
• Provide definitions for confusing terms
• Uses the “I don’t know” answer very carefully
40. Descriptive Research
3. Observational Research
Methods
1. Naturally occurring behaviors observed in
natural contexts
2. Contexts that are contrived to be realistic
41. Descriptive Research
Observational Research
Methods
• Require direct observation of behavior
• Data gathered without intermediary
instruments
• Can yield a wealth of invaluable
information
• Can be a complicated process
42. Descriptive Research
Observational Research
Methods
• Can be employed productively to support
many purposes in educational technology
• Can be used to determine how people
interact with technology in various stages of
design and implementation
43. Descriptive Research
Observation Research Methods
• How do learners interact with a specific program?
• How do learners interact with a new hardware
system?
Observation makes it possible to explore the
implementation of a particular technological
innovation and assess the instructional outcomes.
44. Descriptive Research
Observational Research
Methods
• 2 Forms of Observational Research
– Structured
– Unstructured
45. Descriptive Research
Observational Research
MethodsUnstructured
Structured Observations
Rigid and controlled Observations
Used to determine
Predetermined unselective, detailed,
methods continuous description of
behavior.
Detects unintended effects
More time consuming
because of time and labor
required to collect and
analyze sets of extensive
observations
46. Descriptive Research
Observational Research
Methods
Develop observation form
May be paper and pencil or electronic
May use a rating scale to evaluate behavior
A 3-point rating scale is sufficient
47. Descriptive Research
Observational Research
Methods
Newer Mediated Observation Techniques
• Audio
• Videotape
• Computers provide on-line monitoring (process of
capturing characteristics of the human-computer
interaction automatically)
– Keystroke records
– Audit trails
– Logging data
48. Descriptive Research
4. Portfolios
• Provide a descriptive measure of student
work based on actual performance
• Consist of learner-created products that
reflect the processes of learning and
development over time
49. Impact and Future of
Descriptive Research
• Although descriptive studies are important,
most educational studies involve questions
about cause.
– What causes underachievement?
– Will multimedia cause students to be more
motivated or lead to high achievement levels?
50. Impact and Future of
Descriptive Research
• Not always easy to isolate variable that will
explain those causes, so descriptive research
can play an important role in providing
information from another perspective.
• By gathering descriptions of “what is” and
comparing them to “what we would like”
educators can see the area that needs to be
addressed.
51. Impact and Future
of Descriptive Research
• Descriptive Research methods have gained
acceptance
• Number of descriptive studies published in
research journals has increased
• Descriptive research leads to prescriptions
that instructional designers and educators
can heed as they consider future direction
52. Questions Addressed by Causal
Research
* Marketing director of local soft drink company,
“Will replacing TV commercial A with commercial B
lead to increase in consumer preference on our brand?”
* Chairman of a charity organization. “Will it be
worthwhile to mail to previous donors an attractive and
expensive brochure to solicit higher contributions this
year?”
* The sales manager of a local life insurance company.
“Will training in the use of computers for client
management increase agents’ sales?”
* Marketing VP of fashion chain, “Can we improve
profitability of our fashion clothing line by increasing its
price by 10%?”
53. Causality: Cause-and-Effect
Change-in-X causes change-in-Y
Evidence of Causality
• Concomitant variation:
– If X changes, then Y also changes.
– If X does not change, then Y does not
change.
• Time order: cause (X) occurs before effect (Y).
• Elimination of alternative explanation:
– Could changes in Y be caused by
changes in Z?
54. Concepts and Terminology
Causality
Manipulation (experimentation)
Independent variable (X, manipulated,
computer skill)
Dependent variable (Y, reflect the impact of
independent variable, sales)
Treatment Group: subject exposed to
manipulation (salespeople with training)
Control Group: part of sample that sees no
change in independent variable (no computer
training)
55. Validity of Experiment
Internal validity: elimination of other possible causes.
–Sources: external factors (Asian crisis),
maturation of subjects (agents more experienced).
–Lab experiment > Field experiment.
External validity: generalizability of results.
–Artificial situation; inappropriate sample;
inappropriate time.
–Field experiment > Lab experiment:
56. Types of Experiments
Laboratory experiment
Research investigation in which
investigator creates a situation with
exact conditions so as to control some,
and manipulate other, variables
Scientific investigation in which an
investigator manipulates and controls
one or more independent variables and
observes the dependent variable for
variation concomitant to the
manipulation
Field experiment
of the independent variables Research study in a realistic situation in
which one or more independent
variables are manipulated by the
experimenter under as carefully
controlled conditions as the
situation will permit
57. Experiments are the
STRONGEST Design Logic
• The “best” Research
• Design to determine
CAUSAL
RELATIONS
58. Use Experimental designs
whenever possible
• Types of
EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGNS:
• Lab
• Field Experiment
• Quasi-Experimental
59. Uses of Exploratory Research
• Formulate a problem or define a problem
more precisely
• Identify alternative courses of action
• Develop hypotheses
• Isolate key variables and relationships for
further examination
• Gain insights for developing an approach to
the problem
• Establish priorities for further research
60. Use of Descriptive Research
• To describe the characteristics of relevant groups,
such as consumers, salespeople, organizations, or
market areas.
• To estimate the percentage of units in a specified
population exhibiting a certain behavior.
• To determine the perceptions of product
characteristics.
• To determine the degree to which marketing
variables are associated.
• To make specific predictions
61. Uses of Casual Research
• To understand which variables are the cause
(independent variables) and which variables
are the effect (dependent variables) of a
phenomenon
• To determine the nature of the relationship
between the causal variables and the effect
to be predicted
• METHOD: Experiments
62. A Comparison of Basic Research
Designs
Exploratory Descriptive Causal
Objective: Discovery of ideas Describe market Determine cause
and insights characteristics or and effect
functions relationships
Characteristics: Flexible, versatile Marked by the prior Manipulation of
formulation of one or more
specific hypotheses independent
variables
Often the front Preplanned and
end of total structured design Control of other
research design mediating
variables
Expert surveys Secondary data
Methods: Pilot surveys Surveys Experiments
Secondary data Panels
Qualitative Observation and
research other data
63. Marketing Research Proposal
• Executive Summary
• Background
• Problem Definition/Objectives of the Research
• Approach to the Problem
• Research Design
• Fieldwork/Data Collection
• Data Analysis
• Reporting
• Cost and Time
• Appendices
